The fundamental principle of IRCAM is to encourage productive interaction among scientific research, technological developments, and contemporary music production. Since its establishment in 1977, this initiative has provided the foundation for the institute’s activities. One of the major issues is the importance of contributing to the renewal of musical expression through science and technology. Conversely, ...

IRCAM is an internationally recognized research center dedicated to creating new technologies for music. The institute offers a unique experimental environment where composers strive to enlarge their musical experience through the concepts expressed in new technologies.

In parallel to its fundamental missions of research and creation, IRCAM is committed to sharing its knowledge and know-how, its technologies with the general public. Cutting-edge research and diffusion of innovations, an international reference for education and the democratization of artistic practices are the driving forces behind the institute’s educational activities.

At the center of societal and economic concerns combining culture and information technologies, the current research at IRCAM is seen by the international research community as a reference for interdisciplinary projects on the sciences and technologies for sound and music, constantly exposed to society’s new needs and uses.

The fundamental principle of IRCAM is to encourage productive interaction among scientific research, technological developments, and contemporary music production. Since its establishment in 1977, this initiative has provided the foundation for the institute’s activities. One of the major issues is the importance of contributing to the renewal of musical expression through science and technology. Conversely, ...

IRCAM is an internationally recognized research center dedicated to creating new technologies for music. The institute offers a unique experimental environment where composers strive to enlarge their musical experience through the concepts expressed in new technologies.

In parallel to its fundamental missions of research and creation, IRCAM is committed to sharing its knowledge and know-how, its technologies with the general public. Cutting-edge research and diffusion of innovations, an international reference for education and the democratization of artistic practices are the driving forces behind the institute’s educational activities.

At the center of societal and economic concerns combining culture and information technologies, the current research at IRCAM is seen by the international research community as a reference for interdisciplinary projects on the sciences and technologies for sound and music, constantly exposed to society’s new needs and uses.

Thinking Things: A Way of Thinking about Intelligent Objects

It has been seven years since Georges Aperghis has taken on musical theater despite being an indefatigable re-inventor of the genre for almost half a century. Admittedly, even in his purely musical works theater is never far, “It’s my way of seeing the world”, he says. “I always see tensions arise and, rather than calm them, I always try to push them as far as they can go. Naturally, this creates archetypal situations of domination, of revolt…. There is neither a representation, nor speech, nor a character, not even precise scenes, but vague situations that only music can express, like a theatrical and moving alchemy that makes them tangible.” Of course, the voice and text are far from absent in his most recent production. But it is the first time in his career that he has stayed away from the stage for so long…

For this great comeback, Georges Aperghis has also reconnected with IRCAM technology via Olivier Pasquet who guided Aperghis through his first steps in the IRCAM studios, 18 years ago, for Machinations (2000). The new piece, entitled Thinking Things can be seen from several points as the prolongation of Machinations and Luna Park (2011): it reuses the core structure of the stage set and questions, like the other pieces, technology and its abuses. As always, with the wild humor that distances and characterizes his work: the subject here is not to denounce, but to show and, above all, to play, in the recreational meaning of the term and with the serious carelessness of a child, with all the technologies that invade our daily lives.

Following the role of the machine in our contemporary society, generalized surveillance (worthy of George Orwell), Aperghis is now interested in robots of all sorts, in all these thinking objects that provide him with material to consider.

Inspired by the essay by Grégoire Chamayou La théorie du drone as well as military videos that were leaked here and there, and by the extraordinary funeral ceremonies organized for robots in Japan when they become obsolete or no longer work, Georges Aperghis imagines a musical theater bordering that of a magic show, deconstructing the image of robots until they become absurd, not without scuffing up the men who designed and use them…

The Technology

As often seen in Georges Aperghis’ work, voice and vocality are treated with special attention here. With Olivier Pasquet, he extends the work carried out for Machinations and Luna Park on synthesized voice, impossible polyphonies, and voice processing techniques—notably to give a “voice” to the robots whose mind-blowing, hallucinated discussions punctuate the piece. On the other hand, as if to better question the robotic presence in our lives, a part of the electronics is created using sound samples…. of 3D printers! These are the3D printers used to construct the robots that participate in the show.

The robots were designed by the artist Pierre Nouvel who also produced certain videos seen throughout the performance. “Here we are designing robotic elements and thinking about their possible interactions with humans, but also with space, sound, light, and images” says Pierre Nouvel. “We address themes related to robotics and artificial intelligence through systems that use, of course, current technologies, but that remain theatrical. Absurdly, this provides a lot of strength and artistic freedom to the project. The technology found on the stage is augmented by the theatricality and musicality with which it is confronted.”

Biography

Georges Aperghis (b. 1945) has worked for over 30 years on the invention of musical theater that he defines as “an invasion of the theatrical temple by the abstract power of musical organization”. Never a libretto set to music, but a polyph...